Inmotion "V13" announcement forthcoming!

[Paul A]

Scary, ambitious....

Detachable batteries.

Detachable wheel.

Seating/pedals for two.

Onboard generator.

Onboard adapter for car charge stations.

Bucket seat with side handles.

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Paul A

[Cecily Inmotion]

On 12/1/2021 at 5:02 AM, mrelwood said:

We have now finally gotten an Inmotion employee who speaks English, and whose job is to communicate with the community! The Inmotion that has seemingly been working in silence for a while, now has a spokesperson and a channel for us to communicate with.

How the communication starts with, is that I was given a piece of information, and a permission to share it on this forum:

Inmotion will make a public announcement in January 2022 about their next EUC!

I don't know what the wheel will actually be called, but it's not going to be "V13". I also don't know anything at all about the wheel itself, but it seems obvious that we're looking at a competitor to the bleeding edge of the EUC markets.

Let the antagonizing wait begin!

Cecily from Inmotion is here.

We will hold a campaign on our Facebook and Instagram next week. The prize is a new V11. Welcome to join us.  

[Chriull]

3 hours ago, Cecily Inmotion said:

Cecily from Inmotion is here.

Welcome to the forum!

[That Guy]

3 hours ago, Cecily Inmotion said:

The prize is a new V11. Welcome to join us. 

Great to see you here with us, Cecily!! And we want V13 next week!!! 

Edited December 10, 2021 by That Guy

[Jon Stern]

On 12/1/2021 at 9:18 AM, Paul A said:

Ok, couldn't do exhibitor search.

Maybe someone will go to CES and post a video.

Hopefully ElectricUnicycles Marty might be the one to do it.

I won't be going to CES 2022. My company normally has a large booth, and I'm usually there meeting with vendors. But due to COVID, and our very cautious approach to it, we won't be going (we're not even back in the office).

I did visit the Inmotion booth in 2020, spoke to the CEO and Jack, and rode a V10f around their booth.

[Paul A]

Ok, no CES 2022 visit.  

Probably going to be many youtubers covering the event and uploading videos.

Hoping if Marty went, there would be a focus on EUCs.

[Jon Stern]

6 hours ago, Paul A said:

Ok, no CES 2022 visit.  

Probably going to be many youtubers covering the event and uploading videos.

Hoping if Marty went, there would be a focus on EUCs.

There aren't many EUCs there. In 2020 I think I only saw Inmotion (who mainly were showing their scooters) and the Z10 on Ninebot's booth (one of many items on display). It's certainly not worth going to for EUCs alone.

[Paul A]

Think EUC manufacturers prefer to exhibit at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, especially with covid.

Next one 13-16 October, 2022.

[yoos]

On 12/9/2021 at 1:57 AM, mrelwood said:

“it’s going to blow peoples minds”, “a bit scary”,  “something completely unexpected“

these three are clearly faceplant-related  

Seriously though, I am eagerly awaiting something new and unexpected indeed. I would love to see axial flux motors, IP68 ratings, swappable batteries with smart BMS etc. Swappable batteries are particularly promising. This would really open a whole new world:

• swap packs to be instantly ready to resume trip. Instead of making an EUC with 6-10 parallel packs just use 2-4p setups and swap packs with spares when they get low. Cheaper entry cost for an EUC!
• choice of proper battery for the task: high capacity low current for long cruise, low capacity high-drain for racing or short commutes. The EUC should recognize approved/compatible packs and use the corresponding algorithms/safety margins
• possible customization: use custom packs, e.g. expensive high performance ones for competitions
• charge batteries separately from EUC: easy inspection, better monitoring during charge, easier to store safely - overall much safer. You can store the EUC in colder/hotter environment without batteries.
• air travel with EUC, rent batteries locally! (but first wait 20 years before air travel regulations catch up to the concept!)
• ecosystem: own 10 EUCs but only 5000Wh worth of batteries which can be used across all your EUCs. Buy new models without batteries. (the creep-up of voltage might be a hindrance of compatibility)
• ultimately participate in battery-sharing services uniting all kinds of EVs.

[Paul A]

If there is space available, might easier if the additional batteries were attached and connected to wheel though, rather than as a heavy weight in a back pack

 

[That Guy]

1 hour ago, yoos said:

Swappable batteries are particularly promising.

Swappable batteries are not "a bit scary" tho...  

I think modular battery design is less likely to happen this time than some new "scary" max speed or voltage... Also, in one of the comments to the same video eevees suggested that to their knowledge the wheel won't be easier to maintain/service, unfortunately... 

Am I right, @Cecily Inmotion? 

[Unventor]

5 hours ago, yoos said:

these three are clearly faceplant-related  

Seriously though, I am eagerly awaiting something new and unexpected indeed. I would love to see axial flux motors, IP68 ratings, swappable batteries with smart BMS etc. Swappable batteries are particularly promising. This would really open a whole new world:

• swap packs to be instantly ready to resume trip. Instead of making an EUC with 6-10 parallel packs just use 2-4p setups and swap packs with spares when they get low. Cheaper entry cost for an EUC!
• choice of proper battery for the task: high capacity low current for long cruise, low capacity high-drain for racing or short commutes. The EUC should recognize approved/compatible packs and use the corresponding algorithms/safety margins
• possible customization: use custom packs, e.g. expensive high performance ones for competitions
• charge batteries separately from EUC: easy inspection, better monitoring during charge, easier to store safely - overall much safer. You can store the EUC in colder/hotter environment without batteries.
• air travel with EUC, rent batteries locally! (but first wait 20 years before air travel regulations catch up to the concept!)
• ecosystem: own 10 EUCs but only 5000Wh worth of batteries which can be used across all your EUCs. Buy new models without batteries. (the creep-up of voltage might be a hindrance of compatibility)
• ultimately participate in battery-sharing services uniting all kinds of EVs.

All of this is giving a lot of technical problems and some are not solvable from Inmotion. 

As an example air travel is banned on all passenger air plane by default by authorities. Removable battery or not. This is down to airlines do not want to have debate and slow check-in to verify the wheel doesn't have battery installed. 

There are lot of hurdles to have a universal battery and to ensure the quality of the pack. So you might wish for this but until we have new battery tech I don't see this happening. 

[yoos]

8 hours ago, Paul A said:

If there is space available, might easier if the additional batteries were attached and connected to wheel though, rather than as a heavy weight in a back pack

In general yes, but I had a specific (my personal one  ) use case: 95% rides are < 30km (my commutes are either 6 or 9km each way) and involve stairs, often also shopping, offices. I would want the wheel to be both light and compact in these situations. Naturally I would prefer a wheel that cannot house more than some 4-5kg worth of battery (800-1500wh depending on battery type) and carry a backpack in the rare event of a long ride. Unfortunately, a robust plug&play setup would also require more weight and space per wh.

Even if I would not purchase spare packs to facilitate long trips, with removable batteries I could leave the EUC safely downstairs (especially in bad weather) and take the batteries with me to recharge and keep an eye on. However, for this scenario to be convenient and reliable the plug and play tech needs to be really good (fast to connect and disconnect yet reliable and heavy duty connection system).

5 hours ago, Unventor said:

As an example air travel is banned on all passenger air plane by default by authorities. Removable battery or not. This is down to airlines do not want to have debate and slow check-in to verify the wheel doesn't have battery installed. 

Indeed. The only thing that might sway them is if EUCs become truly mainstream. In this case some airline will see the opportunity to get ahead of competition by accomodating travelers with EUCs.  Still I am confident that there will be rent-an-EUC in major destinations well before that happens.

 

5 hours ago, Unventor said:

There are lot of hurdles to have a universal battery and to ensure the quality of the pack. So you might wish for this but until we have new battery tech I don't see this happening. 

Also a fair point -- EUCs need a higher reliability standards than many-wheeled vehicles which already enjoy the convenience of battery-swapping stations. However, if an EUC has at least two battery slots this improves reliability drastically: should one battery fail momentarily or completely you have the other battery to prevent faceplant and even get you to your destination, if you are brave enough. 

[Paul A]

Batteries that can be easily swapped out for safety, instant range, and be a universal fit across all makes and models could be great for the customers.

The idea tweaked could possibly be used as a strategy by a manufacturer to try to lock in customers to them.

Inmotion could henceforth produce wheels that have swappable batteries between all Inmotion wheels, but not with other EUC brands.

This offers customers of Inmotion to upgrade/purchase many wheels much cheaper as they need not have the expensive battery cost each time.

You can have a stable of many Inmotion wheels and need only one set of batteries.

Very similar idea to cordless power tools having a universal battery but only within the one brand.

If one manufacturer implements it, the others would likely imitate.

Initial advantage but dissipates.  

Could be downsides for customers too though.

[pico]

29 minutes ago, Paul A said:

Very similar idea to cordless power tools having a universal battery but only within the one brand.

This would be the key idea to obtain permissions for international travel with our wheels...

At destination, just use a locally available battery pack and voila!

[pico]

29 minutes ago, Paul A said:

Very similar idea to cordless power tools having a universal battery but only within the one brand.

This would be the key idea to obtain permissions for international travel with our wheels...

At destination, just use a locally available battery pack and voila!

[Paul A]

Yes, good idea, just leave a deposit/bond to guarantee return of battery, and pay to rent the battery.

[Lieven]

A one side attached engine would make it a lot easier to swap tyres

[yoos]

37 minutes ago, Lieven said:

A one side attached engine would make it a lot easier to swap tyres

This approach is used in some scooters, bicycles and motorcycles and looks very cool. But it's impossible in an EUC: you need pedals on either side of the wheel and you need a shell to protect your legs from the wheel on either side. You could make one side easily detachable - like a clamshell body where the wheel is attached to only one halfshell and the other one is easy to flip up. But this would compromise rigidity (or you would need to add extra 10-20kg for an exoframe). So the current setup where pedal hangers are directly and firmly attached to either side of the stator/axle seems to make the most sense. Currently what is taking the most time apparently is the multitude of steps to remove layers and most importantly wires that have to be disconnected which usually requires disassembly of the controller box to get to the connectors.

Edit: rereading your sentence, maybe you just meant having all wires enter on just one side? This seems already standard for hollow motors like the V11. But the wires still have to be disconnected so you can extract the wheel.

Edited December 11, 2021 by yoos

[Lex Smith]

Airless tyres - they have been a long time coming but seem a perfect fit for an EUC.

[Paul A]

Airless tyre.

How would it attach to the rim for an EUC though?

 

[Paul A]

A DIY airless tyre, bolted onto rim.

 

[AtlasP]

Rent-at-destination batteries is the dream for micro-vehicles/PLEVs, but it's never going to happen for a narrow genre like EUCs.

Anyone who was truly serious about making it happen (even if EUCs were their personal goal) would need to push for a standardized format (pack size & shape, voltage, connectors, etc, etc) across/in partnership with scooter and ebike manufacturers, and even then it'd take a number of years with all of those parties all heavily working/pushing together to make it happen.

[Kekafuch]

43 minutes ago, AtlasP said:

Rent-at-destination batteries is the dream for micro-vehicles/PLEVs, but it's never going to happen for a narrow genre like EUCs.

Anyone who was truly serious about making it happen (even if EUCs were their personal goal) would need to push for a standardized format (pack size & shape, voltage, connectors, etc, etc) across/in partnership with scooter and ebike manufacturers, and even then it'd take a number of years with all of those parties all heavily working/pushing together to make it happen.

Begode has all their line up on 900wh packs. RS, EXN, Commander, Monster Pro…

[Tawpie]

6 hours ago, AtlasP said:

even then it'd take a number of years with all of those parties all heavily working/pushing together to make it happen.

One advantage of having China as our sole source: a simple decree can make this happen, with no exceptions, on a fixed timeline. It would be expensive and time consuming—but in China it's entirely possible. All that's required is the right connection(s)! (of course, it's just as simple to undo, so there's that)